SHARING FLOWERS WITH THE UNFORTUNATE. 



CHEER FOR THI 



BRIGHTNESS IN THE HOMES OF THE POOR. 



AVE our readers who live 

 in the midst of ample gar- 

 dens, containing a profus- 

 ion of bright sweet flowers 

 and verdure, ever thought 

 to share them with those 

 who have them not ? Have 

 ) ou ever passed through a 

 large city hospital and 

 seen the pale, discouraged 

 faces of the inmates turned 

 upward from weary beds of pain and sickness, and real- 

 ized how much they need what you could easily spare ? 

 A basketful of fresh blossoms, bunched into little nose- 

 gays and distributed to right and left in a crowded hos- 

 pital ward, would bestow unspeakable blessing and aid 

 the doctors and nurses wonderfully. 



But there are places outside of hospitals and asylums 

 where kind-hearted flower-growers could do a blessed 

 work. We refer to parts of large towns where pov- 

 erty and wretchedness make their abode. Think of 

 all the women and children in these places who are 

 cut off from the beauties of nature, who would feel 

 grateful and receive much benefit in soul and mind 

 if given some spare flowers from your hands. Well 

 may we, who are surrounded by a wealth of flowers 

 that God has given, ask ourselves who bestowed on 

 us the exclusive right to possess and see fade before 

 our eyes these treasures which are so much needed 

 by others ? Let us try to share them with the un- 

 fortunates of our towns and cities. 



In that most interesting work from the press of 

 Worthington & Co., Hartford, entitled "Darkness and 

 Daylight in New York," we are given a charming 

 glimpse of the flower-mission work in some of the 

 poorer districts of the metropolis, and we are indebted 

 to its publishers for two pretty pictures. The super- 

 intendent of the Children's Aid Society of Corlear's 

 Hook, is an ardent lover of flowers, and believes in 

 their value for training the rough little subjects with 

 whom he is brought in contact. In the back yard of 

 the home he planted shrubs, flowers and vines about 

 a shady seat, where for a moment those who rested on 

 it might fancy themselves in the country. Sewage 

 and bilge-water gave the best-known odors of this 

 region, and he fought them with hyacinths, helio- 

 tropes and violets. In the school-room and through 

 the lodging-house plants and flowers were scattered 

 about, influencing the rough little beings, who begged for 

 a single flower with an eagerness that could not be de- 

 nied. The pathos of such a scene must influence not only 

 those who have seen it, but those who hear about it. 



Windows overran with bright blooms. Buds and blos- 

 soms, green leaves and trailing vines were everywhere. 

 The little yard was full, and as the demand increased the 

 superintendent proceeded to erect a small greenhouse. 

 The time for this arrived when a small building was put 

 up in the rear for bathing purposes, and above this the 

 greenhouse was built, opening into the school-room ; so 

 that to-day every waif in the school who looks up from 

 his desk sees a vista of flowers. 



Soon a novel reward was suggested to the young vaga- 

 bonds of Rivington street — and indeed of the whole re- 

 gion — who flocked in full of delight over the growing 

 things. The best children in the school were allowed to 

 take a plant home with them, and if they brought it 

 back in a few months improved and well cared for they 

 received others as premiums. Soon in the windows of 

 the poorest most tumble-down houses and tenement 

 rookeries one saw flowers growing, or met the little sav- 

 ages of the district carrying a plant more carefully than 



A City Mission Greenhouse at Corlear's Hook, New York. 



they had been accustomed to carry the baby when an 

 overworked mother entrusted it to their care. 



Thousands of poor families now have their windows 

 filled with beautiful plants as an outcome of this benefi- 



